Mogao Caves and the Gobi Desert

The main purpose of our visit to Dunhuang was to view the rather impressive Mogao caves. Dug into cliffs that rise out of the otherwise flat and featureless desert landscape, the caves reveal Buddhist paintings dating as far back as the 4th century. For more than 700 years Buddhist monks from far and wide excavated the hard rock and painted exquisite testaments to their faith. More than 2000 painted stucco figures and around 45,000 square meters of murals remain.

We were unable to photograph any of the interiors but a few external images also remained. Of more than 600 caves that survive, about 20 are open to the public. Of the 8 we were shown, what struck us most was how vivid the colours remained after such a long time. They were truly beautiful. There were apparently also 1000s of manuscripts but many of these were taken by 19th/20th century explorers and reside in foreign museums.

In addition to the cave paintings there are also two more humungous Buddha, one reclining and the other sitting. The external structure to the cave entrance gives an idea of the size of the sitting Buddha (around 35m).

Of course no visit to the desert is complete without a camel ride! Only a short distance from town the sand mountain Mingsha Shan rises impressively. Camel riding in orange sand boots is a must, as is viewing the spectacular Crescent Moon Lake.

We happened upon a fabulous theatrical production set in an equally impressive underground theatre. Entirely in Chinese, our guide thought we were a bit crazy, but it proved to be one of the highlights of our trip. Loosely based on the story of the loss of the Buddhist manuscripts from the Mogao Caves, the sounds, sights and sheer creativity of this production blew us away.Read more